Fri/Sat/Sun September 8~10, 2017 economy i 05

THE Futian Free Trade Zone (FTZ) will be upgraded soon in order to be re-posi-tioned as a key component for the eco-nomic zone along the Shenzhen River, along with the Huanggang Checkpoint area and the Lok Ma Chau Loop area.

With the development of the three areas, the Shenzhen River economic zone is expected to play a larger role in the strategic development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Shenzhen Municipal Econ-omy, Trade and Information Commis-sion announced recently.

The Futian FTZ accounted for 14 percent of the city’s total foreign trade volume last year, although the indus-trial park only covers a small part of Shenzhen. The area also completed a total fi xed asset investment of 1.58 bil-lion yuan (US$236.93 million) last year,

ranking high among the 16 key areas in the city.

In particular, manufacturing indus-tries have been growing in the Futian FTZ in recent years. The value generated by advanced manufacturing industries settled in the area made up as much as 99.4 percent of the total industrial output in 2016.

Currently, all of the cross-border e-commerce policies have been imple-mented in the Futian FTZ and the econ-omy, trade and information commission said they are collaborating with Customs to speed up the renovation and construc-tion of supervising facilities there.

In a bid to bring more appropriate upgrades to the FTZ, the authority has conducted a large amount of research and discussed possible solutions.

During the “Two Sessions” this year,

Lin Chongshun, a deputy of the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress, proposed that Shenzhen speed up the upgrading of the Futian FTZ so as to catch up with the fast-changing economic trends around the area.

To make work more effi cient, Lin suggested that the municipal govern-ment authorize the Futian District Gov-ernment to take over the project while providing guidance and help.

In response to Lin’s advice, accord-ing to the economy, trade and informa-tion commission, all districts and new areas in Shenzhen are now authorized to implement urban renovation work. The commission stated that what the Futian FTZ is facing is the challenge to better use the limited land and abundant urban renovation work in later stages.

In particular, the commission elabo-rated that it would be responsible for the FTZ’s development of industries, while the district government would take over the responsibilities of urban and social management.

In the recent announcement, the commission also disclosed that it is now taking further steps to explore the development of a larger area that combines Futian FTZ, the Huanggang Checkpoint area and the Lok Ma Chau Loop area, aiming to actively join the national development strategy of the Greater Bay Area.

Experiences in the Qianhai and Shekou Area of the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone will be studied and referenced in the upgrading of the Futian FTZ, according to the commission.

(Zhang Qian)

City to upgrade cross-border FTZ

Zhang YuJeniZhang13@163.com

PARTNERING with Shenzhen Yumsun Fruit Co., retail giant Carrefour hosted a Thai fruit festival at its Xinzhou Store in Futian District on the morning of Aug. 24. The festival aimed to promote and provide an in-depth Thai fruit experience for citizens.

Wu Jiali, commercial consul of Royal Thai consulate-general in Guangzhou, was invited to deliver a speech at the event. She said that Thai fruit is famous for its wide variety, good quality, and unique fl avors, which have become very popular among Chinese consum-ers in recent years. Summer is also the high season for Thai fruit. Therefore, the festival offered a great opportunity for citizens to get a close look at fresh Thai fruits and taste different tropical fruits. Wu hopes there will be more activities like this in the future and that citizens will be able to buy high-quality Thai fruit more conveniently.

Lu Jinpao, chairman of Shenzhen Yumsun Fruit Co., said at the festival that by holding this Thai fruit festival with Carrefour, people could gain a deeper understanding of fruit from Thailand while enjoying these exotic fruits.

He also expressed thanks to the Thailand Government and Carrefour for the support. The festival is a mani-festation of the friendship between the two countries, and the partnership with Carrefour is a win-win cooperation. He

further added that Thai fruit can also be used to cook with.

In addition to a wide variety of fruits, the festival also offered dance performances, thrilling acrobatic per-formances, interesting games and free tastings to spice up the event.

Traditional tropical fruits are on offer at the supermarket, including Thailand golden pillow durian, mangosteen, rambutan, longan, custard apple and red pomelo. In addition, Carrefour is offering many new varieties, such as

durian with red fl esh, which takes four to six years to grow, as well as longkong fruit and tamarind.

According to Carrefour, Yumsun Fruit has been in a long-term strategic partnership with Carrefour for 22 years, and both sides have been committed to introducing and sharing the world’s high-quality fruit with customers.

Carrefour will promote the series of Thai fruits at all of its stores in the city until Thursday, so citizens can taste these exotic fruits at more affordable prices.

Thai fruit festival held at Carrefour

Dancers at a Thai fruit festival at Carrefour’s Xinzhou Store in Futian District on Aug. 24. The festival aimed to provide an in-depth Thai fruit experience for citizens. Sun Yuchen

Liu Minxiamllmx@msn.com

A SHOPPING center in Futian District struck a deal with Alibaba’s local commerce platform Koubei on Aug. 3 in a push to digitalize its services to woo younger-genera-tion consumers.

The eight-story INJOY Mall that opened a year ago as the largest mall in Futian’s Meilin area is the fi rst shopping center in Guangdong to partner with Koubei, which was cre-ated in June 2015 with 6 billion yuan (US$893 million) in investment from Alibaba and Ant Financial to enable brick-and-mortar shops to establish an online presence.

Koubei, which has an average of more than 5 million daily users in Shenzhen, has made deals with 300,000 shops across Guangdong, including 80,000 in Shenzhen, Yu Guojun, deputy general manager of Koubei’s Guangdong division, told reporters.

The deal will enable INJOY, developed by Shenzhen’s Excel-lence Group, to obtain precise data about their customers, including age, shopping preferences and buying power, said Zha Jun, general manager of Excellence’s commercial property arm.

Through Koubei, shoppers can access services like self-service parking fee payment, exclusive discounts, customer ratings of shops and real-time information on waiting lines.

By July 30, a total of 195 shops and restaurants at INJOY had taken advantage of services provided by Koubei, which said it had tracked 260,000 of the mall’s customers. INJOY averaged 70,000 daily visi-tors in its initial year of operation, according to Zha.

Futian mall strikes deal with Alibaba

Huaqiangbei wins titleDUBBED as China’s First Electronic Street and a paradise for hardware entrepreneurs, Huaqiangbei, a com-mercial walking street in Futian District, recently won the title of “China’s Famous Commercial Street” granted by China Commercial Walking Street Committee. The award ceremony was held Aug. 24.

Winning the title signifi es that Huaqiangbei commercial walking street has become one of the landmark walking streets in China and it has set a model for the industry with its diverse commercial environment.

There are 42,000 market entities under the administration of Huaqiangbei. Among them, 1,740 deal in food and 480 are cater-ing units. More than one million kinds of electronic products are sold here.

Fintech association set upTHE inaugural meeting of the Supply Chain Fintech Industry Association of Futian District, the fi rst association of its kind in Shenzhen, was held on Aug. 3.

The association aims to turn Futian into a center for supply chain fi nance, to help Futian win the bid for hosting the 2017 World SCF Summit and to make Futian the fi rst area to implement international standards for supply chain fi nance.